


Silence is the New Riddle

by Prima_Voltera



Category: Batman - Fandom
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Batman - Freeform, Cillianmurphy, CoryMichaelSmith, F/M, Fear, HarleyQuinn - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Mystery, PoisonIvy - Freeform, Riddler - Freeform, Riddles, Robin - Freeform, Romance, Scarecrow - Freeform, Scriddler, TheJoker, VictoriaJustice, catwoman - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-03-27 05:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13874433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prima_Voltera/pseuds/Prima_Voltera
Summary: Ridley Wayne's life is one gigantic puzzle and she herself is only a piece in a larger game. She and her companions rest on chessboard, playing a game that only leads to death, or for a lucky few... life. Life, however, rarely thrives in a city as corrupt as Gotham, and it's only time until the Dark makes its move; one that is impossible to out play. People will get hurt, lives will be sacrificed, and there's no guarantee anyone will make it out unscathed.♕The cards are dealt; the game set. Are you ready to make your move?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you are not comfortable with anything that is listed below, particularly with the relationships, don't continue reading. I won't be offended by that. ^.^ I don't mean to turn people away by posting this chapter. Like I said, this is merely a warning.
> 
> Fandom: Batman Universe  
> Rating: T (14+)  
> Genres: Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Romance  
> Relationships: Edward Nygma/Riddler x OC (M/F), Edward Nygma/Riddler x Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow (Side pairing, Enemyhet, Slash, Dub-con)*  
> Other: AU/EU
> 
> *Enemyhet: a relationship between two characters that hate each other and are enemies in the canon story. 
> 
> Slash: indicates homosexual relationships between men. 
> 
> Dub-con: the presence of borderline non-consensual sexual contact. 
> 
> (I will place a warning at the beginning of the chapter as well as in the chapter title that contains Dub-Con. (Ex: ch.#, D-C)If you are not comfortable reading it, then you can skip the chapter.)

"Somebody stole my car radio

And now I just sit in silence"

I was laying down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, listening to "Car Radio" by Twenty One Pilots. It was entirely fitting in my situation. Although, if we keep it to the metaphor, my radio wasn't stolen, I just chose not to play it. I sat up and switched my iPod off when someone opened the door. It's Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler.

"Miss Ridley?" Alfred said. "Master Bruce would like to talk to you."

I nodded and hopped off the bed, walking out my bedroom door with Alfred following behind me.

Let me be clear on my name. I hated it. It was a dog's name, not a human's. But I suppose that I couldn't be that picky about it.

When Batman saved me from Zsasz, he found me clutching a dog tag with the name 'Ridley' on it. So yes, I was named after a freakin' dog. I also knew that Bruce Wayne was Batman. He didn't seem too worried about me knowing, considering my... circumstances.

Walking down the stairs, I found Bruce in the library staring out the window. The library was one of my favorite places in the house, it's floor to ceiling bookcases were stuffed with all books imaginable, and the large bay windows and glass double doors looked out to a peaceful backyard.

"Ah, Ridley," he said, turning around with a slight smile. "How are you?"

I shrugged. _Fine._

"I wanted to talk to you about the next few days," Bruce continued. "I know that school will be over soon, and that means that you'll be done. Unless, you want to go to college?"

I shrugged again. I honestly didn't know. Nobody has any use for a person that didn't speak in any sort of job. College? Yeah, no thanks. High school was already hell, why would I want to subject myself to that again?

Bruce let out a sigh.

"Look," he said, "I know things are hard for you right now, you do know that I can help you."

I gave a slight nod. Of course I knew that. He told me that every single day. It was like he felt like it was his fault that I was like this; but it wasn't. It was Zsasz's fault.

I didn't remember much about what happened after Bruce rescued me, as Batman of course, but I knew it was something bad considering the scars that covered my body. Why else would I wear long sleeve shirts and long pants all the time? It was just another thing that kids at school teased me about.

"I'm going to have Richard start driving you to school for the last days of school," Bruce said. "I want to make sure that you'll be ok."

I glared at Bruce. Ever since I got my license, I drove myself to school. It was the one good part of my day. Just me by myself and my thoughts.

'Ha, that's rich coming from me', I thought. 'I'm stuck with my thoughts every flippin' day.'

"Did you hear me Ridley?" Bruce asked.

 _Duh. Of course I did._ I nodded my head.

"Ok then," Bruce said, giving me a smile, "why don't you go back upstairs and work on your homework?"

I shrugged again and exited the room, heading up the stairs.

Flopping down on my bed, I went through my music and settled once again to listening to my favorite playlist. I had titled it 'Sad Songs for a Sad Day' but I listened to it regardless if I was sad each day or not; it was calming. "When She Cries" by Britt Nicole came on and I closed my eyes.

I had finished my homework yesterday. When you didn't have any friends and you didn't talk to anyone, you had a lot of time on your hands. Closing my eyes, I fell into a deep sleep.

###

Waking up some hours later, I saw that Alfred had left my dinner sitting on my desk. Eating in my room was nothing new to me, in fact, I liked it. Bruce forced me to have dinner with him and Richard at least twice a week. The other days I could eat in my room. I didn't particularly like eating with Bruce and Richard, they talked about their escapades - which was fun to hear about - but somehow they always ended up talking about me.

Walking over to my desk, I sat down and quickly ate my dinner of lamb and brussel sprouts. It was slightly cold so dinner must've been an hour ago.

Glancing at my alarm clock, and subsequently groaned.

It was already 8:30.

That was just great. I had spent the entire afternoon and half of the evening sleeping. How was I going to fall back asleep now?

Finishing my dinner, I grabbed pajamas from my dresser and headed into the bathroom to take a shower.I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I wouldn't go as far to say that I was beautiful. Pretty maybe, but definitely not someone a guy would do a double take on.

My dull brown hair hung halfway down my back and my equally dull brown eyes looked tired. Shaking my head, I quickly undressed and hopped into the shower. Whilst washing my hair, I tried not to look down at myself. I hated seeing the scars all over my body, and I hated it even more if people saw them.

That would lead to questions that I didn't know the answer to. I didn't know how I got the scars, though I would guess that they came from my time as Zsasz's prisoner when I was younger. I only knew that because Bruce told me how he'd found me when he thought I was old enough to handle it.

Bruce had said that I didn't need to worry about Zsasz. He hadn't been seen or heard of since that day, 12 years ago. I didn't remember anything from when I was six and younger. Bruce and the doctors figured that my mind had blocked the memories from the conscious part of my brain because they'd been so traumatic. This just made Bruce and the others be more careful around me. They didn't want to get me overly emotional in case it set me off and brought those memories back.

Shutting off the water, I got out of the shower and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around me. I stared at my now wet appearance as I wiped the steam off the mirror.

The first thing I noticed were the scars running up and down my arms. They were completely straight, running both horizontally and vertically but never crossing. The rest of the scars on my body were the same, appearing to have no sense of rhyme or reason to their placement.

Pulling my pajamas on, I walked back into my room to find that the window was open.

Frowning, I walked over and shut it, preventing the cool night wind from blowing in. Turning around I noticed that something was sitting on my bed.

Picking it up, I realized that it was a small rectangular green card with a purple question mark on it. My stomach dropped slightly. It was obvious who this was from. I saw that there was a riddle on it as soon as I flipped it over.

**_Riddle me this: What word starts and ends with 'E' but often only has one letter in it?_ **

I examined the card more closely but couldn't find anything else on it. I'd have to figure out the riddle later.

But how did it get here? Someone must've came through the window because they had left it open, but I was on the second floor and it was a straight drop to the ground.

I placed the card down on my nightstand with an odd sense of foreboding settling over me. I'd have to remember to show Bruce tomorrow. Crawling into bed, I switched off the lights and tried to fall asleep.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

"Miss Ridley!" I woke up to Alfred knocking on my door. "It's time for you to get up and get ready for school."

I rolled over and put my head under my pillow. I had spent most of the night trying to think why that card had been left in my room, as well as the answer to the riddle. Needless to say, I didn't get enough sleep because of it.

I heard the door open. Suddenly, the pillow was pulled forcefully off of my head.

"Master Bruce won't take kindly to you being late to school again miss," Alfred said, looking down at me. "Wake up _now_."

 _Ugh! Fine._ I rolled my eyes and sat up with a stretch.

"Get dressed and then come down for breakfast," Alfred said with a satisfied nod of his head. "Don't forget that Master Richard will be driving you to school today."

I groaned internally. How could I forget that? It felt like Bruce was slowly taking away my freedom when he should've been giving me more of it.

"Don't give me that look miss," Alfred 'scolded'.

I rolled my eyes again and flung my legs over the side of the bed. Alfred gave me a nod before leaving the room.

Getting up, I walked over to my dresser and picked out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt to wear. Yes, I wore T-shirts even if I wore something over them. I wasn't an idiot, and with the weather getting warmer, it would be suicide to wear a long sleeve shirt.

Tugging on a purple shirt, I made my way over to my closet and pulled out my favorite emerald green cardigan. I placed it on, made sure to button it up all the way, before slipping in my sneakers and exiting the room to go eat breakfast.

"Did you have a good night sleep?" Bruce asked me when I entered the dining room.

I nodded and sat down at the table before for filling the plate in front of me with eggs and bacon.

Nodding, I sat down at the table before filling the plate in front of me with eggs and bacon.

"Richard's going to be driving you to school," Bruce reminded me. "He'll also be picking you up once it's over."

I shot a glare at Bruce. _Thanks for reminding me for the hundredth time! Alfred already told me._

"I'm only looking out for your well being Ridley," Bruce said with a sigh, complete misinterpreting what the glare meant. "I want to make sure that you're safe. After what happened with the press ambushing you last time, I want to take precautions."

 _Really?_ I raised an eyebrow. I'm sure that was part of the reason, but I know there was something else as well. It was no secret that there was a huge breakout at Arkham Asylum last week. Did Bruce know about the card? No, probably not. He'd have grilled me about it and then lectured me about how I needed to stay safe.

"Finish your breakfast and then go meet Richard outside," Bruce said after a moment.

I nodded and quickly finished my breakfast before getting up from the table and grabbing my bag which was by the door. I nodded in thanks to Alfred as I walked past him.

"Have a pleasant day at school, miss," Alfred said with a smile.

 _Like hell I will._ I nodded and then waved as I walked out the front door and down the drive to where Richard was waiting.

"Lovely morning, isn't it?" Richard asked me as I got into the passenger seat.

I nodded. _Sure I guess._

"I can't believe that Bruce made me drive the car today," Richard said, starting to complain. "I'm just as capable of driving the motorcycle, but nooo. Bruce made me drive the car because he was worried that we'd get in an accident."

Bruce was such a worry wart.

I silently watched the trees go by as he drove. We rode in silence and I fiddled with my headphones before slipping them on. Hitting shuffle, I listened to Taylor Swift sing about her most recent cheating boyfriend.

After fifteen minutes, Richard tapped me on the shoulder and I hit pause.

"We're here," he said with a grin. "I know you don't like it, but try to have a good day, ok? I'll be here to pick you up after school."

I nodded and stepped out of the car. 'Welcome to hell', I thought bitterly, as I made my way towards Gotham High.

###

Walking into the large three story brick building, I wondered how I was going to survive this time. I couldn't wait until school was over, then I wouldn't have to deal with this.

I sensed people staring at me as I walked to my locker and I did my best to ignore it. Getting to my locker, I opened it and then tossed my stuff into it. Grabbing my notebook and binder, I headed to my first class of the day; Science.

Entering the room, I sat down in my usual spot in the back of the room. I saw that, once again, I was the only one there at the moment, besides the teacher, who was sitting behind their desk grading papers. The other kids would probably arrive a few seconds before the bell rang.

Five minutes later, the rest of the class filed in and found their respective seats, meaning that no one would sit by me if they could help it. I heard running footsteps and saw Max Knight run in just as the bell rang.

"I'm going to have to count you late, Mr. Knight," the teacher said, raising her head.

"But I made it here just as the bell rang!" Max protested. "So technically, I'm not late.

"And I'm technically the teacher," the teacher said, her face hardening. "Go sit down."

Max shrugged and then made his way over to my table.

"How are you doing Ridley?" he asked in a low voice so the teacher wouldn't hear.

 _Good._ I shrugged my shoulders and turned to face the front of the room as the teacher started her lecture.

Needless to say, the lecture was the most boring thing ever and I quickly zoned out. My attention wandered over to Max, who was playing some game on his phone.

"Wanna try and play it?" Max asked, noticing my interest.

I shook my head. _No thanks. I don't want to get caught playing and get in trouble._

"You sure? Ok then," Max said with a shrug.

I turned back to my notebook which I was writing song lyrics in. My thoughts wandered and I found myself thinking about the guy sitting right next to me.

I turned back to my notebook which I was writing song lyrics in. My thoughts wandered and I found myself thinking about the guy sitting right next to me.

Max was the only one that was remotely nice to me. I knew that his friends gave him crap about it. I didn't understand why he wanted to spend time with me. I suppose it was nice, but we really weren't considered friends. He only really talked to me when we had class together, which was only a few times.

The rest of the class period was dull. I'm pretty sure that half the class was pretty much asleep by the end of it.

"See you in math," Max told me when we exited the classroom. I nodded and headed to my next class; History.

The rest of my classes were pretty much the same as my first one, and I was glad when lunch finally rolled around. Grabbing my lunchbox, I headed outside, towards my usual eating area against the side of the building.

Pulling my headphones out of the headphone jack, I switched on my iPod and turned the volume up at full blast. I bit into my sandwich and listened to My Chemical Romance's "S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W". I let the music wash over me and relaxed for the first time in a while.

 _Leave a dream where the fallout lies_  
Watch it grow where the tear stain dries  
To keep you safe tonight.

 _He burns my skin_  
Never mind about the shape I'm in  
I'll keep you safe tonight yeah, yeah...

I was having a rather pleasant time until I saw Kyle and his idiot friends walking nearby.

_Please don't notice me._

Kyle was perhaps the biggest jerk ever. He made it his personal goal to harass and make fun of me as much as he could.

"Hey Ridley!" he yelled out, noticing me and walking over. His friends followed close behind, snickering.

Shit.

"I'm having an end of the year party," Kyle said. "I was wondering if you wanted to come. What do you say?" he smirked. His friends laughed like hyenas.

I glared at him. _Fuck off._

"Why do you always wear long sleeves?" one of his friends said loudly. I think his name was Ben.

"It's obvious that she's trying to hide something," Kyle said maliciously. "Let's find out what it is."

 _No! Leave me alone!_ I struggled when two of his friends lunged at me and grabbed my arms.

"You're always wearing the stupid sweater." Kyle advanced towards me. "Let's see what's under it, shall we?"

Frantically, I kicked my legs out and managed to connect with his shin.

"What the hell?" Kyle glared at me. "Bitch!" he spat.

He nodded his head to his friends and they gleefully ripped my cardigan off. Assholes.

"So, you do wear something other than long sleeves!" Kyle said gleefully. "Not sure about what I think about the purple shirt but-"

Kyle stopped when he saw my scars and his eyes widened. "My word," he started, eyes widening in revulsion, "you have problems. More than one. Either you're depressed or you enjoy the pain that it causes."

He sneered at me. "You know... if you are into that kind of stuff I can hook you up with someone."

He let out a laugh as if he thought that he was with funniest person ever.

"Get it?" he asked his friends. "Hook up?"

 _Shut up! Shut up shutupshutupshutup!_ I clenched my fists.

"Oh just wait till the others hear about this," Kyle said with a smirk. He pulled out his phone. "Pose for a picture boys," he said to his friends.

NO! I struggled again in vain, but their grip was just too tight. Burce would be mad if he ever found out about this. How would he explain it to the press? The image that he'd worked hard at perfecting would be ruined thanks to me. I knew that he would be more worried about me than his image, but that didn't stop me from worrying about it.

"Hey!" I heard someone yell from behind Kyle and his friends. I looked up to see Max standing there with arms crossed. "What do you think you're doing?"

"None of your business," Kyle snapped. "Back off!"

"Are you hurting Ridley?" Max countered, coming closer.

_Leave before you get hurt. I don't want to get you mixed up in this._

"What does it matter to you?" Kyle sneered, turning around to face Max.

"I want to just make sure that she's ok," Max narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"You her boyfriend or something?" Kyle scoffed.

"What does it matter to you?" Max asked with a smirk. "Leave now before I call a teacher over and tell them what you're doing."

Kyle scowled at Max but jerked his head. "Come on guys," he muttered. "Leave the bitch and her knight alone. For now." He walked away with his friends snickering behind him, no doubt laughing about the pun he had just made.

"You ok, Ridley?" Max asked softly, approaching me.

 _Not in the slightest._ I felt tears start to pool in my eyes and I shook my head.

Max crouched down and picked up my cardigan. "Those guys are assholes," he said, handing it back to me.

I nodded in agreement. _Yes they are._

"Ridley..." Max said slowly, noticing my scars. "What are those?"

I ignored him and started to put my cardigan on.

"Ridley," Max said, more forcefully. I glanced up at him and met his blue eyes. "Did you do this to yourself?"

I shook my head.

"You're lying," Max said. " I know for a fact that Bruce Wayne would never harm anyone, much less his daughter."

 _How do you know that?_ I asked silently. But I, of course, knew that Max was speaking the truth. Bruce would never hurt anyone unless he had to, and that was only when he was Batman.

"Look," Max continued with a sigh, "I know that it's none of my business, but if you are really cutting yourself, you should go see a therapist or something."

I shook my head again. _I'm not doing this to myself._

"I think that we should go to the office and report Kyle and his idiot friends at least," Max said after a while.

I shook my head again. If Kyle found out that I went to the office, he would hound me just as much as the press would. Except unlike the press, he would hurt me.

"Damn it Ridley!" Max exclaimed, letting out a frustrated breath. "Can't you see that I want to help you?"

 _Why do you want to help me?_ I gave him a questioning look.

Max's face softened. Averting his eyes, he hesitantly said, "I want to help you Ridley because I- I care for you."

Well shit. That's not what I expected him to say. I thought that he'd say something along the lines of 'I wanted to do the right thing'.

"Come on, Ridley." Max stood up decidedly. "We are going to the office now."

He didn't give me any room to protest as he practically dragged me there.

 


	3. Chapter 3

"Mr. Fisher?" Max asked, knocking on the principal's door once we arrived to the office.

"Enter," a voice said.

I hung my head so that my hair covered my face as Max firmly led me into the room.

"Hello Mr. Knight, Miss Wayne," Mr. Fisher looked up from his paperwork, before continuing, "how may I help you?"

"There's a problem involving Ridley and a group of guys," Max explained, impatiently. "I believe that they are harassing her."

"That's a pretty big thing to claim," Mr. Fisher slowly said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you have any proof?"

"No," Max shook his head, hesitantly, before he continued, "but they did rip off your sweater, didn't they Ridley?"

I nodded my head.

Damn, I was near tears again, and all we were doing was talking!

Maybe it was because someone else wanted to help me. That was the most confusing part; Max never made a move to talk to me outside of the classes we had together. Jeez, right now I was an emotional confused mess.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Fisher drawled, not sounding very sorry at all as he went back to his paperwork. "But I can't take anything you say into account unless I have a witness to prove what happened." He looked at me.

"But it was harassment!" Max exclaimed, getting angry. "Shouldn't you take that into account?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Knight," Mr. Fisher said not looking up, "but have you considered that Ridley is just doing it to get attention?"

I stared at Mr. Fisher in shock. Had he really just said what I thought he said? I glanced at Max and, by the look on his face, I knew that I hadn't heard wrong.

"Excuse me?" Max had an incredulous look on his face as he barely controlled his anger.

"You heard me," Mr. Fisher waved his hand, irritatedly. "You've heard what they say about Miss Wayne all the time don't you?'

So that is what this is about. He's not willing to help me because he's a News believer.

"What does it matter?" Max snapped.

"She's looking for attention," Mr. Fisher said giving Max and I his full attention. "That's probably why she doesn't speak. It's so that she'll get special treatment."

I stood up abruptly.

"Ridley...?" Max asked.

I shook my head. Before I lost it, I ran out of the room.

"Ridley!" Max yelled after me.

Wiping the tears that had fallen, I quickly headed out of the building. I didn't care where I was going as long as it was away from that horrible place.

If I could run away from Gotham, I would. I heard that Central City was rather nice this time of year.

I collapsed on a bench and started sobbing.  
Why did people treat me they way they did? All I wanted was to be accepted for who I was and be as normal as a girl that won't talk could be.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Max walking up to me. His face fell when he saw me.

"I'm sorry Ridley," Max said, sitting down next to me. He put his arm around me and I stiffened before relaxing. Turning my head to the side, I buried my head on his shoulder and started crying harder.

"It's ok," Max whispered to me, stroking my back. "I should've listened to you. Had I known how much of a jerk Mr. Fisher was, I would've never brought you to him."

I sniffed and pulled away from him. _Sorry._ I gave him an apologetic look.

"It's not your fault," Max said, "and I don't mind this," he gestured to his tear stained shirt. "I think that our math class will be starting soon. Do you want to go?"

How could he ask a question like that now? I shook my head.

"So, you just want to sit here until school's over?" Max asked.

 _I want to leave now._ I nodded.

  
"Ok then," Max said, "do you want me to go and grab your things from your locker?"

 _Sure._ I shrugged.

"I'll got get it then," Max said standing up. "You stay here."

 _Like I'd go anywhere._ I rolled my eyes and watched him head back into the school. A few minutes later, Max came back lugging my backpack behind him.

"What do you have in here?" he asked with a grimace. "Bricks?"

I grinned and shook my head. I actually just had several textbooks that I was using for my classes, but Max probably knew that. It only occurred to me later that Max would've had to know what my locker combination was to get into it.

We sat in silence until school was out, which was fine by me. Although, I thought that Max wanted to say some things at one point. I was wondering why Max had tried to help me; he had never done that before. Yeah, he said that he cared about me, but caring about me and liking me were two different things. Max had never shown any sort of feelings towards me, or, at least... I thought so? I was kind of dense when it came to that kind of stuff. It was very possible that I hadn't noticed it.

"That your ride?" Max asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. He was pointing over to where Richard had parked a few feet away.

I nodded and stood up, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

"Hey Ridley," Max called out, causing me to turn around. "I forgot... here." He handed me a seafoam green envelope.  
"It's your birthday tomorrow, right?" He looked a little nervous.

I nodded. To be honest, I had so much going on that I had completely forgotten about it.

  
"Well happy early birthday then," Max gave a lopsided grin. "I won't be here tomorrow cause I got some things going on so I wanted to give it to you now. Don't open it until you're alone," he quickly added.

"It's something that I want you to see when you're by yourself," Max said. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad," he reassured as he saw my expression.

Richard honked the car horn and yelled at me to hurry up. I rolled my eyes and slipped the envelope into my backpack. Waving goodbye to Max, I walked over to the car and got in.

"Who's the guy?" Richard asked as soon as I got into the car.

 _Nobody._ I shrugged.

"You friends with him?"

I shrugged again. I suppose he was a friend.

"You looking forward to your birthday?" Richard grinned, mischievously. "You're going to be 18!" he ruffled my hair and I poked him in the shoulder to get his attention back on the road. Richard was an ok driver... when he was actually paying attention.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this," Richard began and I rolled my eyes. He was horrible with keeping secrets, "but Bruce is planning on having a small party tomorrow night; if nothing bad happens."

I tensed when he said that. He did know that I didn't like being around large groups of people, right?

"But don't worry about it," Richard said. "We both know that you don't really like being around other people so it's just going to be Bruce, Alfred and I."

I relaxed when I heard him say that. Thank God; I didn't think that I'd be able to handle a big huge party, even if it was my 18th birthday.

"Here we are!" Richard announced cheerfully as we pulled into the driveway. I got out once the car stopped, directly heading into the manor.

"How was your day Ridley?" Bruce asked when I entered the living room.

 _Could've been better._ I shrugged.

"I got a call from the school today," Bruce said slowly. "They said that you claimed that you were harassed. Is this true?"

I looked down at the ground and didn't meet his gaze.

"Ridley," Bruce said again, "is this true?"

I slowly nodded and Bruce cursed.

"What the Hell!?" Richard said from behind me. I jumped in surprise and turned around. I hadn't notice him come into the room.

"You were harassed!?" he exclaimed, looking very angry. "I'm gonna beat up the punks that did it to you."

Bruce dragged a hand across his face and let out a sigh. "The principal seems to think that you're saying these things to get attention."

Richard let out an outraged sound.

"I know that you'd never say something like that to gain attention," Bruce stated.

I nodded. Of course I wouldn't. I wasn't the type of person to do anything for attention. In fact, I hated it.

"Aren't you going to do anything about this?" Richard agitatedly walked around.  
"I wish I could," Bruce replied, in a levelled tone.

"So you're not going to do anything?" Richard said in disbelief. "Can't you like get the principal fired or something?"

"You don't understand Richard," Bruce said getting impatient. "If I went and found a way to get the principal fired, it'd be all over the news that Bruce Wayne fired the principal of Gotham High. It'd just be one more thing that the press would have against Ridley. I probably will have to deal with them later today or tomorrow because of what happened."

I nodded, confirming what he was wondering about.

Bruce let out another sigh. "Why don't you go put your things in your room and then go with Richard down to the Batcave for training?"

Shrugging, I went to do his bidding.

  
Bruce wanted me to start learning how to defend myself, but whenever I panicked, I forget my training. I was really good at hand to hand combat and average with weapons. However, for some reason, I didn't like modern weapons like guns or knives. Bruce didn't really like me learning to how to use weapons so he was fine with that. On the other hand, Richard insisted that I learn how to use weapons, just in case I ever needed to use them. That's why we sometimes trained with weapons.

I remembered the time when Bruce had caught us doing that; he was really mad. He forbid Richard from teaching me how to fight because when would I ever use it? Richard had then argued that I should learn how to defend myself, especially if Bruce wanted me to join him and Richard on their night time excursions.

Bruce relented after that, I was allowed to practice with weapons on the condition that I do not get hurt while doing so. Five years later, I still hadn't gone with them. Hopefully, Bruce would let me once my birthday had passed.

Dumping my stuff on the bed, I quickly changed into something that would be easier to move around in and headed back downstairs. Pressing my hand against a panel in the living room, I entered the stairway that led to the Batcave and made my way down.

"About time!" Richard said as soon as I entered the training room. It was large and had the most recent and modern training equipment.

"You want to work on hand to hand combat or with weapons?" Richard asked.

I walked over to the weapons rack and picked out the weapon I normally used. Since I didn't like using modern weapons, Richard had managed to find some medieval weapons like swords and spears. The weapon that I picked was a custom made model that Richard had gotten for me.

Initially, Richard wanted to get me a whip, he reasoned that I needed a long range weapon just in case I got attacked by gunmen or something. I didn't like that idea because it made me feel a little too much like Catwoman. I wanted to learn how to use a sword, so we compromised and I ended up getting a custom made sword whip.

The blade was shaped like a regular katana and had a blade of almost two feet. Embedded in the handle was a button that I could push to activate the whip which extended to about four feet.

"Alright then," Richard said grabbing his own, regular sword. "Let's only practice with the sword part. I don't feel like getting flayed today."

I grinned and nodded before taking up my stance.

###

Entering my room, I collapsed onto my bed in exhaustion. Richard and I practiced up until dinner time with only one break.  
Needless to say, I was tired, sore and cranky.

I frowned when Richard entered a few seconds later. What did he want now?

"You forgot this." Richard tossed my sword at me. I caught it in surprise and looked up at him.

"You need to clean it," Richard explained. "You do have the cleaner up here, don't you?"

I nodded.

"Ok, well, bring it back down when you're done," Richard stated, before doing a double take. "Or don't, it's your choice. Just make sure Bruce doesn't know it's up here, ok?"

I nodded again. _I'll stick it in my closet._

"You joining us for dinner?" Richard asked.

Shaking my head I walked over to my desk where I kept the cleaner.

"Alright." Richard headed out, lazily waving his hand. "See you later."

Taking the sword out of its scabbard, I ran my finger along the flat of the blade feeling the near seamless edges of where the pieces fit together. When in whip mode, the pieces were roughly a few inches apart.

Getting out the oiling cloth, I slowly started to run it up and down the length of the blade, careful not to cut myself. Once I was done cleaning it, I put the oiling cloth away and placed the weapon in the closet.

Flopping back down onto the bed, I suddenly remembered the card that Max had given me earlier today.

Opening my backpack I grabbed the envelope and opened it.

Pulling out the card I was surprised to find that it didn't really look like a birthday card at all. It was shaped like a regular card, but the front was unadorned and a plain white in color. It was rather heavy and thick, it was probably one of those cards that had a recorded audio in it.

Opening the card, I slammed it shut almost immediately when I heard maniacal laughter emit from it, like Joker maniacal.  
With my heart pounding fast, I quickly threw the card on my bed and hesitantly stared at it.

Why would Max give this to me? Was he working with them? He didn't seem like that type of person, but then again, I barely knew him.

Cautiously, I picked the card back up and opened it slowly. I was met with the same laughter from before. Then, I heard the rest of the audio.

"Hello Ridley Wayne!" A voice cackled, and I assumed it was Joker. "We heard that it was your birthday tomorrow so we wanted to wish you well and hope that it'll be extra special!" He laughed again. "Don't worry about little Maxie, he didn't know what this was! We merely dropped it off at his house with a note telling him to give this to you. By the way, Eddie wanted to tell me to give you another riddle! So here it is: _**'I never was, am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will, and yet I am the confidence of all to live and breathe on this terrestrial ball.'**_ Well that was dull. Tootaloo!" The recording abruptly cut off.

Ok. What. The. Fuck. Was that.

I was confused. A million questions crowded my mind.

Like, how did they know it was my birthday tomorrow? And what did they mean with 'hope that it'll be extra special'? And what was with that other riddle?

  
Obviously, I was going to end up in some deep, deep, deep shit.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning I got out of bed not believing that I was now 18.

Walking over to my closet to find something to wear, I passed by the card that I had gotten yesterday. I wanted to pass it off as silly but something stopped me from doing so. Why had they targeted me? They didn't know that Bruce was Batman, did they?

I just had to be sure to be on my guard for the day, which completely sucked because it was supposed to be a day of relaxation, except the fact that I had to go to school. There should be a rule that once you turn 18 you don't have to deal with high school anymore.

I put on my favorite shirt that read 'Come to the dark side, we have cookies' and then pulled on a pair of blue jeans before grabbing my backpack and heading downstairs. Entering the dining room, I tried to suppress a smile when I saw that it was decorated; badly.

Clearly, Richard tried to decorate based on the drooping streamers and the crooked 'Happy Birthday' sign on the wall.

"There's the birthday girl!" Richard said, entering the room. He was grinning from ear to ear like a maniac. I just rolled my eyes; it wasn't that big of a deal, was it?

"What the heck?"

I turned around to see Bruce and Alfred enter the room. Bruce looked slightly confused.

"Did you forget that it was her birthday?" Richard asked.

"Of course not," Bruce said. "I'm just surprised by... you did this?"

"Yep!" Richard replied, cheerfully. "Go on and sit down Ridley. It may be your birthday, but you still have to go to school."

_Gee, thanks for reminding me._ I sat down and started to put food on my plate.

"Happy birthday miss Ridley," Alfred said, and I nodded in thanks as Bruce sat down across from me.

"Ridley," he said after a moment. "Now that you're old enough, would you want to come with Richard tonight?"

I glanced sharply up at him and nodded. To finally be able to join the infamous duo Batman and Robin in saving Gotham from criminals? You didn't have to ask twice.

"I was afraid of that." Bruce let out a sigh. "Know this, I am still against you coming with us, but I'm afraid that I'll keep getting bugged by Richard until I let you."

I grinned at Richard and silently thanked him for bugging Bruce until he caved. Richard and Bruce both knew that accompanying them on their night time excursions was something that I'd always wanted to do. After all, it was the family business.

"Bruce also wanted to give you something else for your birthday," Richard said, prodding Bruce in the shoulder.

"Yes, I did," Bruce said, "I've kept it since the day I found you and figured that I should probably give it to you now."

He handed me a chain with a rectangular piece of metal attached to it. Taking it, I turned it around in my hands and saw the very faded and rusty letters etched into it. It was the dog tag that Bruce had noticed me holding when he found me, the tag that belonged to the dog that I was named after; the one I couldn't remember.

"You like it?" Bruce asked, looking at me carefully.

I nodded as tears started to well up in my eyes. Thank you, this is the best gift ever. Now that I had, it perhaps I could start figuring out what my life was like before Bruce found me; when I was six.

Putting it on, I tucked it under my shirt. I didn't need the kids at school noticing it and making fun of me.

"You ready to go?" Richard asked.

I nodded and quickly finished my breakfast and getting up to leave.

"Bruce finally agreed that we could take the motorcycle," Richard said happily as we entered the garage.

Awesome. I grabbed my leather jacket and put it on before climbing on the motorcycle behind Richard. I clung tightly to him as we made our way into the busy streets of downtown Gotham.

"Hope you have a better day at school," Richard said once we got to school. "Remember your training, Ridley. Maybe then those assholes will get the beating they deserve."

I nodded in agreement. Next time, I wouldn't panic and forget.

But hopefully, there wouldn't be a next time.

###

Walking into the school, I suddenly felt very self conscious, more than usual. People were openly staring now and whispering amongst themselves. Trying to ignore it, I made my way to my locker only to be stopped by Astrid Greene, Gotham High's most popular girl and all around Bitch.

"Hey Ridley," she said with a smirk. I simply ignored her and tried to step around her but she blocked me. "I just want to talk." She snickered.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. Clearly, she wasn't going to let me go anywhere. What do you want?

"Aww, there's no need to look at me like that," Astrid said with a pout. "I just wanted to make sure that you were ok after yesterday."

_Yeah right._

"Because of that I took the liberty of telling the school counselor about your.... Problems," Astrid smirked as she looked at me.

She did what!? That was none of her business! Of course, it was Astrid we were talking about. She made it her job to meddle in everyone's business.

"Anyways," Astrid said, flipping her dark brown hair over her shoulder. "The office told me to tell you that you're supposed to go there now."

I glared at her, desperately wanting to flip her off. Just who did she think she was?

"You might as well go," Astrid said with a sweet smile. "Don't want to get into trouble now, do you?"

Scowling, I turned around and made my way towards the office, just as the bell rang for first period. Getting to the office, the lady at the front desk pointed me in the direction of the counselors office which was down the hall behind her. Knocking on the door, I heard someone say enter, before hearing a giggle.

_What the heck?_ I was pretty sure that the counselor was a woman, and judging by the giggle, something else was going on.

Steeling my nerves, I opened the door and stepped inside to see three people standing there. It took me a split second to realize who those people were.

One woman was standing in the corner and was wearing straight black with a whip attached to her hip. I didn't need to see the cat ears to know that it was Catwoman. The other woman was the easiest to identify with her red and black outfit, Harley Quinn. The meant that the one standing in the corner in green was Riddler.

Great, what did they want with me? Backing up I turned around and tried to run out the door only to be blocked by Two-Face.

"You're not going anywhere," he growled, shutting the door and standing in front of it barring my escape.

"Besides," Harley said, "you have an appointment with the doctor." She let out a giggle. So she was the one that had giggled earlier.

The desk chair then turned around to reveal one Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow. Of course, he had his mask on so I couldn't see his face, but it was pretty obvious who it was.

"Tell me," he began, "what are you afraid of?"

Shit, why did I always get into trouble? It seemed that the world was against me.

Remember your training. I thought, crouching down to launch an attack. But before I could do that someone grabbed my arms and held them behind my back.

"Not so fast," a voice said. " ** _Riddle me this: No sooner spoken than broken._** "

"Enough with the riddles Eddie," Harley said, "we need to leave before they realize that we are here."

"Fine," Riddler relented, "but I'm not letting her go. It's a good thing that she can't talk."

Damnit! I needed to get out of here.

"Aww," Catwoman cooed. "Looks like the poor kitten is stuck. Can't call for help, can you?"

Struggling, I kicked Riddler on the leg and he let out a curse. "Let's just get this over with," he growled.

"With pleasure," Scarecrow said with a smile. He stood up and made his way towards me, pulling a syringe out of his pocket. "This won't hurt a bit," he said, approaching me as I struggled to escape.

"Well, I can't promise that you won't be affected by whatever emotional trauma you receive though." He chuckled. "Good night, Ridley Wayne."

He stuck the syringe in my arm and I passed out.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Edward's P.O.V.**

I released my grip on the girl's arms as Jon injected her with fear toxin and ended up supporting her weight as she slumped against me.

"That was just too easy," Jon said.

"Well, it helps if our victims doesn't speak, doesn't it?" Selina pointed out.

"I was hopin' for a bit more action, ya know?" Harley remarked.

"You might still get that," I said with a sigh, "It was easy to get in here but it'll be harder now since we got what we needed."

"We need to get out of here now," Harvey said, or was it Two-Face?

"How?" Harley asked, "we can't go out the way we came in!"

"That's why we are going out the front," I said with a scowl. Honestly, I could barely stand Harley Quinn, she had the IQ of a rock.

"Ya think that's wise?" Harley asked, getting on my nerves.

"Let's just get out of here," Jon said picking up on my mood.

"Righty o!" Harley said before kicking down the door.

I picked up our prize and followed behind her. The girl, Ridley, was slightly shaking and she let out a groan of pain. I smiled grimly. John's fear toxin could bring Batman to his knees, what would it do to her? Especially, if what the press said was true. What kind of name was Ridley anyways?

"Come on Edward," Jon said, walking past me and slipping on his mask. "We don't need you falling behind, do we?"

I scowled at him and said nothing. Bursting into the main office, I saw that Harley was on top of the desk holding her gun.

"Drop to the floor!" she yelled. "And don't ya think about callin' the police!"

She then did the most surplus thing ever; she fired her gun.

Geez, didn't she ever learn? You were threatening the people in the room but the building was full of people. They would hear the gunshot and call the police.

Cursing under my breath, I turned towards the entrance of the school. We need to get out of here before the police came, otherwise things would get ugly.

It appeared that the others had the same idea, as John practically dragged Harley off of the desk and followed me out.

"Hey!" Harley yelled. "Getcha hands off me or Mishta J will hear about it!"

Jon released Harley and then turned to me. "Let's go."

We all ran towards where we parked our getaway van and piled in. Harvey got behind the wheel and started the engine before peeling away.

I settled down on one of the seats and laid Ridley down so that her head was in my lap and studied her. Her dark brown hair was slightly wavy and rather long, a round face with a small mouth. Rather plain look if you ask me.

A smile tugged only my lips when I read what her shirt said, 'Join the dark side, we have cookies'. I made a mental note to get some later. I was planning on announcing the option of making her a part of our 'family'. I knew Joker seemed interested and that he'll probably agree. Anything he did, Harley went along with.

"We went to a lot of trouble to get this girl," Selina said, studying Ridley. "I don't get it, what's so special about her?"

"Ida know," Harley replied with a shrug. "Eddie and Mishta J seemed interested in her so..."

"Nothing's special about her," Jon said with a short laugh. "Eddie just saw them talking about her on TV and got interested. You know he can't resist a good riddle."

"That's not true," I argued. "She can be valuable to us, she's Bruce Wayne's daughter. She probably knows at least something about Wayne Enterprises. And if not, it's just one more person that we can take hostage."

"Whatever you say," Jon said with a smirk.

I was about to open mouth with a reply when the van turned a sharp corner and we all went flying into the side of it. I crashed into the side of the van and let out a grunt. Ridley ended up slamming into me and then fell to the floor.

"Watch it!" Selina hissed, bracing her hand against the wall.

"Whatever!" Harvey yelled. "The police are on our tail! I don't know how they caught up to us this fast."

"Maybe it's because we're racing through the streets of Gotham," I muttered, as I straightened and reached down to pick Ridley up. She was still out cold and was sweating profusely.

"Don't you think it's odd?" Jon said.

"What's odd?" I asked.

"I injected her with fear toxin and yet she's not screaming. Usually, the victims are so afraid they end up screaming bloody murder."

"Well, aren't we lucky that she's not doing that," Selina said, darkly.

"Yes," Jon said, "it would've made things more difficult. Maybe she really is mute."

"You just basing that off of what was on the news," I said, shaking my head. "Most of what they are saying probably isn't even true. They're so simple minded that they can't tell the truth from lies."

"Then how do you explain why she wasn't talking, or at least screaming for help when he kidnapped her?" John asked.

"Easy," I replied, "it was shock."

"Really?" Jon said. "And if you're wrong?"

"I'm never wrong," I said, confidently, "I am The Riddler."

We all froze when we heard Ridley moan and attempt to roll over, I caught her before she could fall again.

"Well, at least we know she's capable of making sound," Jon remarked. "So maybe she's not completely mute. Maybe, it's something she chose."

I nodded absentmindedly as I noticed something on her back. Pulling up her shirt a bit, I realized that her back was littered with several scars. Anger shot through me that I don't completely understand the origin of.

"Feeling her up already Eddie?" Harley asked with a snicker.

"Of course not," I retorted. "I just noticed this on her back, look."

The other leaned forward and Selina let out a gasp.

"Where'd she get those scars?" Her voice grew cold, it was a voice of a mother cat that just found out that her kitten was hurt.

"They look like the work of Zsasz," Jon stated, studying them. "But he hasn't been around for 12 years..."

"Are there more?" Selina asked in a low voice.

"Given the state of her back and knowing how Zsasz is, we can assume that there are," I said with an edge on my voice.

"12 years?" Harley said. "I think I remember Mishta J saying something about how the Bat saved a little girl from Zsasz's clutches about 12 years ago."

I was surprised that Harley remembered something like that, she barely remembered what happened a week ago.

"So if that's true, we can assume that the little girl that Batman saved is Ridley?" Jon asked.

"For now yes," I decided. I could get more out of her once she woke up. After putting her through some rigorous testing.

"That means that she was six when this all happened!" Selina hissed. "A child! How could Zsasz?"

"It's Zsasz," Jon said with a shrug. "He does that type of thing all the time."

"We need to protect her if he comes back," Selina said, looking at me. "Make her one of us."

"I never thought that you'd say anything different," I said with a smirk.

"Of course," I said, leaning back with a smug look on my face. "We need some new blood."

"Do ya think that she'd wanna join us?" Harley asked.

"I don't know," I said, truthfully. "It's possible that she won't but we have ways of persuading her if it comes to that."

"You think that's wise?" Harvey asked from the front. "She is Bruce Wayne's daughter after all, adopted or not. She could contact him and tell him where we are!"

"That's the very reason why Jon injected her with the fear toxin!" Selina said, sounding exasperated. "We won't disclose where we are to her until we know that we can trust her."

"Heads or tails..." Harvey muttered as he turned his attention from the road to his pocket.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" Jon and Selina yelled as the van came really close to veering off the bridge.

Harvey chuckled but did as they asked.

"Good thing that we lost the police," he said, peering at the rear view mirror. "I was worried that we'd need to drive around aimlessly to shake them off our tail. Not a good thing to do when we have a guest with us."

"I didn't think that you cared about her wellbeing," Jon remarked.

"I don't," Two-Face snapped, turning off the bridge and heading towards our hideout in the outskirts of Gotham. "I merely don't want to end up in Arkham. That is all."

Stupid politicians were so two-faced it wasn't even funny, and with Harvey, that term could be taken literally.

Pulling the van into a warehouse that we used as a garage, Harvey killed the engine and got out. Opening the rear door, I picked Ridley back up and made my way into the main building. I only hoped that she would want to join us.


	6. Chapter 6

**Third Person P.O.V.**

_The world was pitch black and Ridley could not see anything in front of her at all. She sensed that someone, or something, was stalking her. Hearing a growl coming from behind her, Ridley started running out of fear. Sticking he arms out blindly as she ran she could hear the monster chasing after her._

_Suddenly Ridley found herself airborne and then started to fall. She landed heavily into a chair and a light flickered on. Footsteps headed towards her and Ridley tried to move on to find that she was restrained. A man wearing all black and a bald head came into the light and Ridley recognized him as Zsasz. Fear shot through her when she noticed that he was holding a knife with a blade the length of her hand._

_"Hello," Zsasz said approaching her. "Let's play a game shall we?" He moved the knife so that it ran lightly against Ridley's arm. She shivered and tried to shy away. Zsasz laughed._

_"Here's how the game works," he said with a twisted smile. "I cut you and if you scream you get another, deeper cut. This will go on until you don't scream at all; ok?"_

_Ridley tried to twist away from him but failed to loosen her bonds. Zsasz dragged the blade against her arm and Ridley opened her mouth and let out a silent scream._

_"Oh dear," Zsasz said with a frown. "I think we need to work on it some more."_

_He kept cutting her, each cut deeper and deeper, until Ridley blacked out._

_Eyes flickering open, Ridley found herself standing outside of Wayne Manor. Flames roared from the building and she could feel the searing heat touch her face. Something flew out of the building and landed at her feet. Ridley flinched away as the thing landed before peering forward to get a look. She recoiled in horror when she realized that it was Richards burned body._

_Ridley frantically looked around for anything that could put the fire out and only found a cell phone lying in the dirt. Picking it up with shaking hands she tried to turn the phone on to no avail. She then wondered what she would have done if it did turn on._

_"Ridley!" She heard Bruce yell from behind her._

_Ridley turns around, the phone clenched in her hand, to see Bruce running towards her._

_"How could you do this!?" Bruce yelled. "After all that Richard, Alfred and I did for you? Why burn down the manor?"_

_What? Ridley was confused. She didn't set fire to anything!_

_"You didn't even call the fire department!" Bruce roared. "And you would've been able to save Richard if you did! You're useless!"_

_He slapped Ridley, causing her to hit the ground hard. She curled up into a ball and wished that none of this had ever happened._


	7. Chapter 7

**Ridley's P.O.V.**

Gasping I sat up and looked around frantically wondering where I was. I was met with a dull room with grey colored walls, a small window with a desk underneath and a rickety old bed that I was currently in. Where was I? Suddenly everything came back to me. School; the kidnapping; what must've been my fears via fear toxin. What did the villains of Gotham want with me?

Hesitantly I got out of the bed and winced as it let out a loud creak. Tiptoeing to the door I pressed my ear against it and listened intently. Nothing. Opening the door I was glad to find that it wasn't as squeaky as the bed. Slipping out into the hallway I quietly shut the door behind me and stared down the hall. The room I just came out of was at the very end and I saw at least two other doors lining the hall.

Walking, I studied each door as I came to it. The one on my immediate left was painted a bright green and had a purple question mark on it; Riddlers room then. The last one was a simple wood door with no decoration. I wonder who's that was. Reaching the end of the hallway I was met with a metal staircase. Halfway down them, I stopped to listen; again nothing. Was it possible for me simply walk out if I wanted to?

Tiptoeing down the rest of the stairs, I froze when I heard laughter coming from one of the open doorways. Peering carefully into the room, I saw several people lounging around in what must've been the living room due to the several couches and chairs that dotted it as well as the ginormous flatscreen TV that took up the far wall. I identified several of the people, the infamous Joker with his pasty white skin and green hair was sitting in a chair with Harley perched on his lap, Poison Ivy was by one of the windows tending to a plant, and several others that I couldn't see very well as they all had their backs to me, were also there.

Holding my breath, I eased past the doorway and scurried down the hall. There! The front door stood ten feet ahead of me. Just a bit farther...

"Just where do you think you're going?" A voice growled, a hand wrapping around my waist. Struggling, I twisted around to see Riddler. Amusement flickered across his face when I beheld him. It wasn't like I was afraid (I was, but only a bit), I was more... surprised. It was like when you finally got to meet a huge, well-known celebrity for the first time: they're not as impressive, and a heck of a lot smaller in person. What a disappointment. I stomped on his foot and he let out a grunt but didn't let me go.

"That's it," he snarled as he dragged me back the way I came.

"Whatcha got there Eddie?" Harley asked as Riddler dragged me past the doorway. The others turned to stare and Riddler stopped.

"She tried to escape," Riddler growled, "I'm taking her back to her room."

 _To be locked away for good,_ I thought.

Here I was, kidnapped and held prisoner by these crazy psychos. Why did they do it? Did they think they could get me to talk and tell them that Bruce was Batman? I was 90% sure Riddler already knew, cause he, well he claims to know everything. At least that's what Bruce said. The majority of the time that he'd actually cornered Riddler, he'd gotten him to talk. Bruce said this made it considerably easier to catch him because he got so caught up in boasting about his intelligence that he didn't even notice it was a trap. Guess he wasn't that smart after all.

"Why dontcha bring her in ta say hi?" Harley pouted. We now had everyone in the room focused on us, well rather me, that is.

"Not yet," Riddler said, "I need to test how smart she is first."

"More like he wants to keep her for as long as possible before we can get our hands on her," I heard a voice mutter, which was then followed by a raucous round of laughter as Riddler dragged me away.

Passing the stairs that I had come down earlier, I began to wonder where Riddler was taking me. He said that he wanted to test how smart I was so maybe one of his infamous Challenge Rooms? I hoped it wasn't too hard, Bruce told me about one when he'd been forced to go through one and barely escaped with his life. If Batman could barely do one, the then meant that I'd never been able to do one. Dread sat heavy in my stomach as we approached a solid metal door with the number 1 on it.

"In you go," Riddler said, opening the door and shoving my through before slamming the door.

 _Hey, wait a minute! You can't just leave me in here! Let me out!_ I turned around and started banging on the door. The room was dimly lit, but I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings as I continued to pound on the door. I paused when I heard the crackling of a speaker from somewhere above.

"Testing, testing, is this thing on?" Riddler's voice said over the speaker. "Ah no matter, welcome Ridley Wayne! Are you ready? Well, even if you weren't, you're still doing this! Let's get started."

I whipped my head around wildly trying to find where the sound was coming from and finally located it, in the top righthand corner of the room.

"Now, since we don't want you dying quite yet, this one'll be easy. At least by my standards! See the desk in the middle of the room?"

I glanced around and realized that there actually was a desk as he said. It's dull brown surface was scratched and faded looking. A solitary light bulb hung from the ceiling directly above it, the only light source in the room. A single rickety chair sat in front of the desk, the chair legs appearing like they'd barely support my weight.

"Go over to the desk and sit down," Riddler continued, "in the drawer, you'll find a pencil, a pencil sharpener, eraser, and your test."

Grudgingly I did as he said. Sitting down carefully in the chair, I opened the drawer, which let out a loud screech, and took out the supplies. The test was a packet that must've had 5 or more pages, I bet it was front and back to.

"Now that you have everything you need," Riddler said cheerfully, "I'll go over the somethings before you start. You will only have 1 hour to complete the six-page test front and back. That's all."

I glared at the speaker and Riddler tsked.

"Don't give me that look," he said, "I could make this much harder for you, but I'm feeling nice so you're very lucky."

Of course, he had cameras in this room. I rolled my eyes. Having an hour to finish the test would be hard, but not impossible, I had complete faith in myself.

"Little too confident hmmm?" Riddler mused, "better cut it down to 45 minutes."

_Jackass!_

A timer descended from the ceiling, it's clock set at 45:00.

"Time starts now!"


End file.
